Page 52 - Introduction to Agriculture by: Aqleem Abbas

Introduction to Agriculture Notes prepared by: Aqleem Abbas

General guidelines for successful crop production

1. Selection of cultivar
2. Field preparation
3. Manure application
4. Seed bed preparation
5. Inoculation
6. Commercial fertilizer.

Selection of cultivar

Select the recommended variety or cultivar for your area.
Barani is irrigated
Late vs. early
For feed or for storage
In general variety must be disease resistant and high yielding and adaptable to environment.
Field preparation
Field should be prepared at field capacity condition. The previous year stubble must be
incorporated and mix with soil.
Field capacity.
Moisture condition of soil after downward drainage of gravitational water.
After harvesting stubbles should be removed properly. In barani areas ploughing should be done
at proper time to conserve moisture. After ploughing the field is left as such to dry out the weeds.
Manure application
Incorporate fertilizer thirty to sixty days before sowing and should be well mixed there fore losses
of nutrients will be less.
Seed bed preparation
For final seed bed preparation the fields are irrigated for fortnightly and again plough at field
capacity condition. No of plowing depends upon crop nature whether it is cereal or sugar cane
crop. Cereal needs shallow plowing while sugar crops need deep plowing.
Inoculation
Use of or addition of rhizobia to soil or seed. Rhizobia are nitrogen fixing bacteria. When
legumes are sowing for first time rhizobia is not present in soil and should be applied from
external source for example Rhizobium japanicum is applied to soybean crops.
Commercial fertilizer
Fertilizers are applied pre-sowing i.e. potassium and phosphorus as a single dose where as
nitrogen is applied in split application half at sowing and other half at first or second irrigation.
Fertilizers must be well mixed into soil. In barani areas all type of fertilizer is applied before
sowing or after rainfall. Legume required less nitrogen fertilizer than other crops.
Nitrates is leaching while ammonia is volatile.
Rotation